Students, business reps practice networking skills

Thursday

Mar 7, 2013 at 3:11 PMMar 7, 2013 at 3:24 PM

The banquet room at Otero Junior College was buzzing with enthusiastic chatter Tuesday as Otero Junior College students, faculty and local business representatives participated in a networking event sponsored by Career and Technical Education programs. Participating in the event were Otero County Government, Colorado Workforce Center, Crowley County Government, PRG Consulting, First National Bank of Las Animas/La Junta, Edward Jones, Debourgh, Oliver Manufacturing, Triad Computers, Sodexo, City of La Junta, InspirationField, Bent County Nursing Service, Valley-Wide Health System, Fowler Health Care Center, Southeast Mental Health, Valley Plumbing, Tri County GM, U.S. Bank, Small Business Development Center Director Bill Dutro, Illusions Studio and other salons and some La Juntans invited because of their gift of gab.

Bette McFarrenbette@ljtdmail.com

The banquet room at Otero Junior College was buzzing with enthusiastic chatter Tuesday as Otero Junior College students, faculty and local business representatives participated in a networking event sponsored by Career and Technical Education programs. Participating in the event were Otero County Government, Colorado Workforce Center, Crowley County Government, PRG Consulting, First National Bank of Las Animas/La Junta, Edward Jones, Debourgh, Oliver Manufacturing, Triad Computers, Sodexo, City of La Junta, InspirationField, Bent County Nursing Service, Valley-Wide Health System, Fowler Health Care Center, Southeast Mental Health, Valley Plumbing, Tri County GM, U.S. Bank, Small Business Development Center Director Bill Dutro, Illusions Studio and other salons and some La Juntans invited because of their gift of gab.
OJC faculty member Christine Bullock said that networking was the purpose of the meeting. CTE purposely put people together who might not converse with each other in the course of a day. The idea was to seat people together who had a common interest, such as nursing students and nursing instructors, initially, and then have them change tables every 10 or 15 minutes to meet a variety of people. What they learned was hoped to be how to introduce themselves and carry on a conversation with people from different backgrounds, said Bullock.
From the smiling faces and engaged conversations all over the room, it would appear the mission was accomplished. The topics covered in this year's student seminars were Networking, Communication, First Impression, Job Expectations, Dressing for Success, and Etiquette.

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